Removing power conditioner...

While I found two power conditioners I tried detrimental to the sound of my system, I would strongly recommend that anyone plug into a surge protector, especially if you live in an area with frequent storms. I think anyone on this site has more than enough invested in their equipment to want to protect it. You aren't always going to be home to unplug your gear when the storms come along...

I agree with Richard_stacy. None is probably better, unless you have really terrible power in your area.

My only real concern, and the reason I do use a conditioner, is for the surge protection. I live in the Midwest and we have some real nasty thunder/electrical storms. I have however, gotten braver and now I plug my Krell amp directly into a wall receptacle, which is wired directly to a dedicated 20 amp circuit.

hi,
is there a website or email address for audioparts.
tks

I am in the power conditioner use camp. I use prof audio grade Furman power factor correcting conditioners (PF Pro R) that have built in capacitance to aid in current surge demands form the equipment, particularly the power amps. I have one condiitoner for the power amps and one for the low level circuitry. Using both of these has always sounded better that straight from the wall.

I too am also concerned about RF and line surges. My solid state power amps are too expensive to have them damaged by power line crap (an advantage for tubes I guess). It only takes a few micoseconds to destroy most semiconductors.

I did have a Furman line conditioner (AR-12 II) that my CD deck (Cambridge Audio 840) did not like at all. I got noticable distortion in one channel that was removed when I changed conditioners. But this conditioner was a line voltage control device that used a multi-tapped transformer to keep output AC voltage at 120 V.

I have always used an Isotek Gemini or Isotek Multiway power bar with multiple outlets for my equipment. I just purchased one of the last remaining older generation Isotek 8 Multitway's for my system. It has industrial looks, is shielded, non current limiting, and is robustly built. The newer generation of Isotek power bar products do not look as heavy duty as the previous generation. My electronic engineer friend and audio technician in Germany told me that plugging all of the equipment into the same power bar allows for proper phasing/polarity which impacts the quality of the music. In fact, when a component is plugged into a plug and is out of phase, I notice a distinct change in bass and reduced stereo imaging. Now, phasing in Germany is really simple as I plug the Shuko plugs into the equipment without any interconnects plugged into it, then you push a button on a the phase detector and it will light up when the plug is correct phase/polarity. You do the same for all of the components. The power bar/extention is also checked for phase/polarity using one of those polairty checkers; http://www.vandenhul.com/p_IG01.aspx I do not hear many people in the US discussing the merits of correct phasing as we do in Germany.